The report further added that the future land allocation scenario would depend on supportive land policies of different state government and competing demand for land for other sectors
India’s cultivable land areas have the highest potential ﹘ compared to wasteland and forest land ﹘ for installing wind energy projects at an estimated 347 gigawatt (GW) at 120 metre above ground level, according to a report by the National Institute of Wind Energy.
It added that out of India’s total estimated wind potential of 695 GW, 340 GW is possible in wasteland, 347 GW in cultivable land and 8 GW in forest land.
“Southern and western states are majorly contributing to wind potential of the country while other areas with lower wind potential have emerged in other states,” said the report titled ‘India’s Wind Potential Atlas at 120 agl’.
The report further added that the future land allocation scenario would depend on supportive land policies of different state government and competing demand for land for other sectors.
According to the report, wind potential of 132 GW is possible in high potential areas with capacity utilisation fact (CUF) greater than 32 per cent and wind potential of about 57 GW is possible in areas with CUF greater than 35 per cent.
It added that based on this analysis with increased land area utilisation, the wind potential with over 35 per cent CUF can reach up to 98 GW.
“While areas with high wind potential and high CUF can be developed into large wind farms, those with lower CUF could be considered for distributed generation and also for wind solar hybrid for better utilisation of renewable energy resources,” the report added.
India’s installed wind capacity has grown on an average of 20 per cent since last 20 years.
The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy had recently said that India has an estimated offshore wind energy potential to generate about 70,000 megawatt power and is planning to develop the first offshore wind energy project of 1 GW capacity off the coast of Gujarat.
The NIWE had recently floated an expression of interest for this first offshore wind energy project of India.
The government has set an ambitious target of installing 100 GW of solar and 60 GW of wind power by 2022.